During his M.B.A. studies at University of California at Berkeley, Jeff Denby told everyone his ultimate career goal: to start an underwear company.

    Soon, professors and classmates at the Haas School of Business began to call him 'the underwear guy.'

    But Mr. Denby -- who had formerly worked in industrial design and went to business school interested in supply-chain management -- decided early in his program that he wanted to create a company that was about more than just boxers or briefs. In his view, it was critical to create a product that was environmentally friendly and sustainable -- and whose sales could help support good causes.

    This type of social entrepreneurship -- that is, building a for-profit company with a social conscience or linked with a social cause -- is becoming increasingly attractive to would-be business founders. The idea is to make money while either directly impacting consumers with its services or funneling a portion of profits to charities. Often, these companies employ people or source resources from economically depressed areas of the world.

    And with an increased interest in socially responsible money-making, business schools have been pushed to create a whole host of courses and study tracks to help M.B.A. students sort out the best way to pull it off. Schools like Oxford University, Cornell University and Dartmouth College have all seen increased demand for instruction in social entrepreneurship.

    Some administrators say it is a generational progression of business-school students who have grown up socially aware. Others say a lack of traditional jobs has spurred an interest in entrepreneurial ventures -- and the focus on societal impact is partly a matter of trying to escape the stigma of the 'greedy M.B.A.'

    'I think the interest in entrepreneurial ventures with social value [is about] more than the fact that people can't get jobs as easily,' says Colin Mayer, dean of Oxford's Said Business School in the U.K. 'There's also a sort of underlying sense of guilt about what happened during the crisis.'

    For his part, Mr. Denby, who graduated in May 2008, has long wanted to use his business skills for good. Before Mr. Denby launched PACT Organic Underwear as an online-only company in August, he researched all aspects of manufacturing and distribution to make sure his products would be legitimately sustainable, from the labor he employed to the inks used in the garment dye. Then he decided to pair each pattern used on the underwear with a themed charity. For example, 10% of the proceeds from one blue pattern inspired by a Japanese woodcut, go to a marine-conservation group.

    Mr. Denby says his entrepreneurial spirit was fostered by Berkeley's curriculum. In one social entrepreneurship-focused course, guest speakers would make weekly appearances to discuss their for-profit business models. Mr. Denby also enrolled in a start-up workshop where students 'spent a lot of time figuring out who we wanted to work with,' he says.

    At Oxford's Said Business School, students use the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship to insert these concepts into their business plans.

    Recent projects include building water-purifying systems in Africa and developing Internet banking systems in regions without significant technology infrastructure. Oxford has offered electives in social entrepreneurship through the center for years but recently expanded its options.

    The school also provides a venture fund that students can tap to fund worthy projects. In those cases, the school has a stake in the company -- and its success -- says Mr. Mayer, adding that the increased focus among students stems from the dearth of traditional jobs in finance, as well as the malaise surrounding the economic collapse.

    'There is a real sense that doing good business can promote real change in economically depressed regions,' Mr. Mayer says.

    What's more, a for-profit enterprise with a socially responsible backbone is more attractive to nervous investors during economic turbulence than traditional business plans, argues Gregg Fairbrothers, director of Dartmouth College's Entrepreneurial Network at the Tuck School of Business.

    'Financing is tough for start-ups,' says Mr. Fairbrothers. 'For investors to take a risk with you, it helps to have tangible social good coming from it, not just the promise of a fat IPO that will make everyone rich.'

    在加州大學伯克利分校（University of California at Berkeley）就讀MBA時，鄧比（Jeff Denby）就告訴每個人他的終極職業目標：開一家內衣公司。

    很快，哈斯商學院（Haas School of Business）的教授和同學們都開始叫他"內衣男".

    但鄧比就讀MBA后不久就決定，他希望創建一家不僅僅是賣男式平腳或三角內褲的內衣公司。他此前曾工作于一家工業設計公司，就讀商學院的時候對供應鏈管理方向產生了興趣。在他看來，重要的是制造一件環保又可持續的產品──其銷量有助于支持這些善意的理由。

    對潛在創業者來說，這種社會公益創業正變得越來越有吸引力。社會公益創業就是組建一家擁有社會良知或與社會事業有關的盈利性公司，意在獲取利潤的同時，通過其服務直接影響消費者，或將一部分利潤用于慈善事業。通常來說，這些公司會從全球經濟困難地區雇傭人員或是使用當地資源。

    鑒于對社會責任感盈利的興趣增強，商學院已經受此影響推出了一整套講座和課程，意在幫助MBA學生們尋找實現這一目標的最佳途徑。在牛津大學（Oxford University）、康奈爾大學（Cornell University）以及達特茅斯學院（Dartmouth College）等學校，社會公益創業的教學需求都出現了增長。

    一些管理人士說，商學院學生日益具有關注社會意識是一個進步。其他人說，是傳統職位缺乏引發了學生們對創業投資的興趣，他們注重社會影響一定程度上是為了避免"貪婪MBA學生"的惡名。

    牛津大學賽義德商學院（Said Business School）院長梅耶（Colin Mayer）說，我認為學生對具有社會價值的創業投資產生興趣并不只是因為找工作不容易。這也是他們因為對危機中所發生的事情產生了一種內在的負罪感。

    鄧比畢業于2008年5月，他一直希望將自己的商業技能用于善處。鄧比8月份創建了只在網絡銷售的內衣公司PACT Organic Underwear;此前他研究了制造和分銷的每個方面，確保他的產品從雇傭勞工到服裝染料所用的墨水都是合乎法律并具有可持續性。然后他決定將內衣使用的每個團案都和一個慈善主題掛鉤。舉例來說，一個藍色圖案內衣的靈感取自一件日本木刻，其10%的銷售收益將捐獻給一個海洋保護組織。

    鄧比說，他的創業精神源自于自己在伯克利上的課程。在一門以社會公益創業為主的課上，學院每周邀請嘉賓來和學生們討論盈利性業務模式。鄧比還參加了一個創業研討會，他說，同學們在會上花了很多時間討論我們希望和誰共事的問題。

    在牛津大學賽義德商學院，學生們通過斯科爾社會公益創業研究中心（Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship）,將這些想法運用于他們的商業計劃。

    近期的項目包括在非洲修建水凈化系統，在缺乏明顯科技基礎設施的地區建設網絡銀行體系。牛津大學近年來一直通過該中心提供社會公益創業的選修課，但最近擴大了選修課程規模。

    賽義德商學院還提供了一個風險基金，學生們可以從中獲取資金用于有價值的項目。梅耶說，在這些情況下，學院會獲得創業公司的股份，分享其成功。他補充說，學生們日益專注這方面，一方面是因為金融行業傳統職位的缺乏，另一方面也是因為經濟崩潰帶來的糟糕感覺。

    梅耶說，學生們真正感覺到，從事好業務可以給經濟貧困地區帶來真正的變化。

    此外，達特茅斯學院塔克商學院（Tuck School of Business）創業網絡部門主任法布雷斯（Gregg Fairbrothers）說，在經濟動蕩時期，一個具有社會責任感的盈利性創業公司會比傳統的商業計劃更能吸引緊張不安的投資者。

    法布雷斯說，創業公司要獲得融資不容易。要說服投資者和你承擔風險，需要用投資能實際造福社會這一點來打動他們，而不僅僅是承諾以后會通過豐厚的首次公開募股（IPO）讓所有人都發達。